More recently, not one, but two writers on the website posted links to interviews in which Emily Blunt, who plays the Baker's Wife in the current movie adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical "Into the Woods," was asked about playing Marvel's current Captain Marvel in the upcoming movie. It seems that there is some fan interest in her playing the role after her sci-fi/action-oriented performances in "The Adjustment Beaureau," "Looper," and "Edge of Tomorrow." In what appears to be the earlier interview (which you can read at http://screencrush.com/emily-blunt-captain-marvel/?trackback=tsmclip and was reported at http://comicbook.com/2014/11/24/emily-blunt-talks-captain-marvel-buzz/, she apparently not only had not been contacted by the studio about it, but was also knew absolutely nothing about the character...

ScreenCrush: People want you to play
Captain Marvel

Emily Blunt: Which is kind of
amazing...What's she like, though? I don;t know her. What's it like,
this character?

People want you to play Captain Marvel.
Which is kind of amazing.You were in ‘Looper’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ you have that cred now.
I know. What’s she like, though? I don’t know anything about her. What’s it like, this character?She’s great.
Cool. Is she fun? Or is she just like, straight…No, she’s witty and strong. That’s why people keep bringing your name up. They don’t want a boring actor. A lot of personality.
Oh, cool.I think people really liked what they saw in ‘Edge of Tomorrow.’
But it’s not the same type of character?No. It’s weird I’m explaining this to you...

People want you to play Captain Marvel.
Which is kind of amazing.You were in ‘Looper’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ you have that cred now.
I know. What’s she like, though? I don’t know anything about her. What’s it like, this character?She’s great.
Cool. Is she fun? Or is she just like, straight…No, she’s witty and strong. That’s why people keep bringing your name up. They don’t want a boring actor. A lot of personality.
Oh, cool.I think people really liked what they saw in ‘Edge of Tomorrow.’
But it’s not the same type of character?No. It’s weird I’m explaining this to you...

People want you to play Captain Marvel.
Which is kind of amazing.You were in ‘Looper’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ you have that cred now.
I know. What’s she like, though? I don’t know anything about her. What’s it like, this character?She’s great.
Cool. Is she fun? Or is she just like, straight…No, she’s witty and strong. That’s why people keep bringing your name up. They don’t want a boring actor. A lot of personality.
Oh, cool.I think people really liked what they saw in ‘Edge of Tomorrow.’
But it’s not the same type of character?No. It’s weird I’m explaining this to you...

Finally, and most impressively, Marc Ginoccio gives a list of the top five stories written by Kelly Sue DeConnick. The top one is "In Pursuit of Flight," the story in the first six issues of her first Captain Marvel series. gives a lot of love to the story and the fans, who launched the "Carol Corps"s as a result of this series. http://comicbook.com/2014/12/13/5-best-kelly-sue-deconnick-stories/

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

So now, after a reasonable interval has passed since DC announced their "Shazam" movie is scheduled to be released in 2019, Marvel has announced their upcoming movies, including "Captain Marvel."

This Captain Marvel will obviously be Carol Danvers. She is Marvel Comics' current Captain Marvel, appeared in the "Marvel Universe" arena show, enjoys great popularity, and is a major supporting player in several of Marvel's big crossover epics.

This release date trumps the April 5, 2019 announced release date for "Shazam," making it even less likely, in my mind, that the hero in DC's movie will be named "Captain Marvel." There is enough confusion in the marketplace about the character's name and who owns which rights to whom, etc. DC is positioning their new re-boot/re-imagination of the character as an enthusiastic kid in the body of a hero named "Shazam," and unless Grant Morrison's Captain Marvel becomes some kind of runaway mainstream success like "Watchmen," I don't see how a company like DC would fail to maintain their new character.

I must admit that bit o fan art is pretty awesome. It really catches the spirit of the character, and even the hair is done up in an attempt at the Carl Danvers faux-hawk. But why would a character who can fly, is super-strong and nigh invulnerable, and is able to absorb and project energy need a utility belt?

Friday, September 12, 2014

So I have visited almost every web page with news about one or another Captain Marvel or "Shazam," and every YouTube video I could find about the same subjects. I was hard pressed to find a single one that did not have some factual error or two or ten in it, no matter how authoritative they presented themselves. Therefore, I decided to answer them all with this little video. I managed to cram19 different Captain Marvels into 24 minutes. There are one or two or three more, but these, I figure, are the main ones you should know about.

(In case you don't know, Black Adam is one of Captain Marvel's primary adversaries. In his original incarnation, he was a man in ancient Egypt who was given the same powers by the same wizard as Captain Marvel, but who used them to kill the pharaoh and seize the throne. He was banished to the farthest star, took 5,000 years to fly back, and then was defeated by the Marvel Family. In his more recent interpretation, he was the leader of the nation of Kandaq in ancient times, again with the same powers from the same wizard as Captain Marvel, before being banished, and returned to rule the nation again, was a hero for a time, but proved to be a violent, unstoppable psychopath when his wife was killed. He is a character of Superman-level powers and Machiavellian morality with no qualms about killing or destroying anything that gets in his way.)

This may be the closest the movie has come to being made. The earliest I can remember the movie being talked about was 2003. There was a script by William Goldman that was rejected and others written, Peter Segal was supposed to direct it and then, some years later, said it was not gonna happen, Jake Gyllenhall was rumored to be cast as the hero, and then, somewhere in there, was a poll by MTV asking whether Mr. Johnson (aka "The Rock" of WWE fame) should play Captain Marvel or Black Adam. The result was overwhelmingly in favor of Black Adam.

Mr. Johnson has been teasing us for the past couple of months, saying that he was supposed to play a character, "say the word," that it could be Shazam or Black Adam, that it would be an anti hero, and of course that fans weighed in with the passion of a UN debate, saying that because of his looks he should play Black Adam, that we should not consider race, that he was perfect to play a young kid in a man's body due to his recent comedy work, That he would be a great villain, that he would be a lousy villain, that Shazam is not an anti-hero, but Black Adam is, that his acting sucks, that he ought to play John Steward (Green Lantern), or Lobo, and of course all the confusion about whether the hero's name was "Shazam" or "Captain Marvel," and the attendant misinformation about the history of the character, the lawsuit, the trademark, etc. And I am guilty of sending maybe too much time trying to set the record straight about all that history stuff.

Well, here we go again. The news is now bigger, it will hit more mainstream news outlets, and the freaks will come out of the woodwork. Perhaps this will bring more people to read up the old Captain Marvel stories, which were actually pretty good. Personally, I think that the stories drawn by Don Newton published as a backup feature in "World's Finest" comics in the late 1970's and early '80's are an under appreciated body of work and worthy of rediscovery.

It's also possible that some people may check out Marvel Comics' many Captain Marvels, not knowing the difference, if the name "Captain Marvel" gets out there in the public attached to this project. That is, of course, why DC has no interest in attaching the name "Captain Marvel" to this project. And so the confusion continues.

My one big question is this: Will the production be based on the "New 52" reboot of the character, named "Shazam" (if you don't know, DC Comics rebooted their entire universe of characters in 2012, and took their character that had been named "Captain Marvel" and changed his costume a bit, made a few alterations to his origin, and changed his name to "Shazam"), or on a version of the classic character named "Captain Marvel" (of whom there have actually been at least four distinct versions, the most recently popular of which first appeared in 1993 and was published in the graphic novel and ongoing series "Power of Shazam!"). Which version they choose will probably define which name they actually use for the character.

There is a lot of creative risk involved in this upcoming movie. The original stories from Fawcett Publications had an elusively light touch while, in their best moments, being brilliantly efficient, well-told stories. It took a while for DC Comics to find its stride, but once it did, also told well-built stories with a light, whimsical touch. In these stories real-life concerns, such as the psychological effects of a boy and a hero sharing the same memories but having different personalities, or the effects of a transformational bolt of lightning on the surrounding area, were not considered. It was magic! It's a comic book! In the "Power of Shazam!" stories, Captain Marvel had the mind of Billy Batson, and so the angle of the writing was about how the young boy dealt with being a hero. Being the most recently popular interpretation of the character, that is likely to be the direction the story will go, but that is a difficult thing to get right. "Freaky Friday" and Big" explored similar territory, becoming successful comedies, but will the "Shazam" movie be a comedy.

"Whimsy," as opposed to broad comedy, is a tough genre in which to write, not to mention act. This movie has the unenviable task of pleasing a small audience of fans while reaching the mainstream. Comic book movies have been getting better and better lately, listening to the fans and trusting the material. But the material of Captain Marvel is so elusive, many fans of his current incarnation have little experience with his classic version. I have a hard time envisioning a movie that will serve the modern interpretations, either PoS or New 52, that will satisfy me as a fan of the classic version. If a good movie is made, I will be satisfied that another good superhero movie is made, and appreciate it on that level, taking it on its own terms. But I doubt it will serve the original character.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

'MEXICO CITY (AP) — Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson says he will play a role
in an upcoming DC Comics movie adaption but has yet to decide between
superhero Shazam and his arch-nemesis Black Adam.
He may not have a hard time making a decision. He told The Associated
Press on Monday that he has always been a fan of anti-heroes and said
one of his favorite DC Comics characters is Black Adam.
Appearing in Mexico City to promote "Hercules," Johnson said he will make sure comic fans are not disappointed.
"I am putting my heart and soul and my bones into this role," he said.
Johnson didn't say whether his character will appear in the film
"Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice," which is scheduled to be released
in 2016.'

The usual comments about the race issue, whether The Rock can play the innocence of a teenage boy in a superheroes body, and the usual misconceptions about the legal issues surrounding the name of the hero populate the comments section of the Yahoo report (I, of course, set the record straight abut the legal issues).

It is a relief to have these "official" announcements come out. I, for one, have been getting a little tired of the rumors, rumors, rumors going about. Now once we get the straight dope about whether Mr. Johnson plays the hero or the villain, we can start worrying about the writing and directing and the rest of the cast, instead of having to spend our time debating about things that do not yet exist.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Well, after all that news about the potential appearance of a Marvel Comics Captain Marvel in the movies, the one owned by another comic book company hit the news today.

Apparently, Dwayne Johnson (AKA The rock AKA Rocky Malvia, pro wrestler with WWE and popular film star) said something that people are interpreting as a big, BIG hint that he will be playing Captain Marvel, or Shazam, depending on which name they decide to go with, in a movie coming out soon.

Some of these articles keep up the uncertainty of the announcement, while others just come straight out and say "This is it."

This would be big news. As we all may remember, years ago, when the first rumours surfaced about Johnson playing Captain Marvel, it was all wishful thinking. Then folks with more familiarity with the DC Universe suggested Black Adam, one of Captain Marvel's arch enemies, as a more appropriate character. Among the reasons, political correctness aside (and said with loads of Liberal Guilt), it's not usually a good move to change the race of an iconic character like Captain Marvel, and since Johnson has African ancestry and has played a Middle Eastern warrior before, casting him as Black Adam seemed like an awesome choice. This eventually led to a MTV on-line survey in which over 80% of the respondents said they would he should rather play Black Adam, and Johnson said he would be happy to discuss the possibility.

But now, whether they are being cautious or bold about it, everyone is jumping on the "The Rock is Captain Marvel/Shazam" bandwagon. I think we may want to slow down that bus. Lets look at this quotation from an earlier article at http://www.movieweb.com/news/dwayne-johnson-teases-his-dc-comics-character-compares-it-to-superman ...

"Well, here's the thing - so we've been having these ongoing
discussions. I won't tell you who it is, but I'll tell you the three
qualities we're looking for, okay? This is going to be fun! Here are
three qualities. The first quality we were looking for was that he had
to be extremely complex and have a lot going on. What that does for me
as an actor and the studio is it gives us space that we can explore; his
complexities. The other quality was that he had to - the character we
were looking for had to be well-known but never brought to life. Then
what that does again as an actor, it gives me a little bit of space, and
we talked about personality. It just gives me a chance to put an
imprint into his personality, with the set of tools that I could bring
to the table and put a very unique twist on his personality, but still
pay homage to who he is. The third thing - and most important - is he
had to be a badass motherfucker, okay, and on a Superman level of power,
where he could throw down. In those three qualities, I'm happy we've
found that character. Right now, we're out to a lot of writers."

Now this does not sound to me like the Big Red Cheese. Let's look at his points one by one:

The classic Captain Marvel is not complex. He is a mighty superhero who's alter ego is a boy. He doesn't have a girlfriend, there are no inherent neuroses, he isn't out for revenge, he just fights against injustice because that's what he was created to do. Later incarnations have the issue of him being a boy in a superhero's body, but even that is not so "complex with a lot going on." That's just "Freaky Friday" or Big" with super powers.

Captain Marvel has been brought to life several times, from the "Adventures of Captain Marvel serial in 1941 to the TV series "Shazam!" in the 1970's to his appearance in the "Legends of the Superheroes" specials.

Captain Marvel is not a "badass." Don;t get me wrong, he has the strength of Hercules and the courage of Achiles, and he can go toe-to-toe with Superman, but "badass" implies an attitude, It's a don't-fuck-with-me swagger that intimidates certain people. Captain Marvel is a nice guy. He has always been a nice guy. His "nice guy-ness" is one o the defining characteristics that differentiates him from other superheroes. Now I don;t know if they are going to go with the "Big" concept of the World's Mightiest Mortal having Billy Batson's mind, or if they will go with the original concept that they are separate personalities with shared memories, but they will probably go with the former, and true badassedness comes with having experience being as powerful as you are. You have the maturity to handle your power and now exactly what to do with it. Thus, Billy Batson, a 10-16-year-old boy (depending on which version you are reading) cannot be a badass. And Captain Marvel would never think of saying "motherfucker," much less want to be one.

Black Adam, on the other hand, is a complex, badass mo-fo. In the original version, he was exiled to the farthest star for turning evil, then flew 5000 miles back to take revenge. In the pre-"New 52" DC universe, he reformed himself and became a hero, serving with the Justice Society, then he conquered his home country, Qandaq, took over the government, and executed super-villains by tearing their bodies in half (because that's they way they did it back in his day, 5,000 years ago). He married the mighty Isis and adopted an injured boy and gave him the power to become Osiris (thes setting up a "Black Marvel" family), then got so upset when his wife was killed that he massacred every single man, woman and child in the neighboring country and went on a world-wide rampage that only ended when his "magic word" (which was also "Shazam") was changed. He then went on a worldwide trek to find it again. He then went on another worldwide trek with the skeleton he thought was of his wife to get her resurrected (it didn't work. someone switched skeletons on him). Somewhere in there he also "corrupted" a powerless Mary Batson by giving her a share of his power, turning her into "Black Mary" for a while. Now that's some complex badassery.

And that character has never been "brought to life" (except in a few animated cartoons).

Another thing about what Johnson said was that they were looking for a role that he could believably play. In the interview with TotalFilm.com, what talking about the discussions he has had with DC about what character he could play he said:

"There is baggage...and it's good baggage, that I have. I am a certain way and my wiring is my wiring, my DNA is my DNA, and when I step on stage or on screen I'm aware of what I am able to bring to a character, and so is DC [quotation edited for grammatical cohesiveness]."

Can we really see Dwayne Johnson, the rock, playing a young teenage boy awkwardly trying to figure out how to use a superhero's body and blshign at the attentions of a beautiful woman, or can we seem him as a powerful and vengeful ruler of a Middle-Eastern desert kingdom? Hmmm...now where have I seen that before...)

Now, I have been wrong before. I thought that 9/11 must have been an Iraqi plot, for instance. But I think that Dwayne Johnson's statements do not preclude the possibility of him being Black Adam, and, in fact, support that possibility.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

So it looks like after many months of
inactivity, the rumors of Captain Marvel in the movies have been
revived! But which Captain Marvel? Let's take a look at a roundup of
the rumor mill on the InterWebs!

As we all recall, Thanos was revealed
in the “Easter egg” in the middle of the end credits of Marvel's
“Avengers” movie. Thanos was created by Jim Starlin for Marvel
Comics back in the early 1970's and was instrumental in the most
significant storyline of Captain Mar-Vell, Marvel Comics' first
Captain Marvel,

On May 14, 2014, Comicbook.com
(http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/05/14/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-who-are-skyes-parents/)
repeated a speculation that a blue alien on the TV show “Agent's
of S.H.I.E.L.D” wa a Kree, a member of the race from which Mar-Vell
came. It was a Kree device that gave Carol Danvers the powers that
turned her into Ms. Marvel, and ultimately, Marvel Comics' latest
Captain Marvel. So with Thanos and the Kree in town, can one or
another Captain Marvel be far behind?

On May 19, the same website
(http://comicbook.com/blog/2014/05/14/agents-of-s-h-i-e-l-d-what-was-coulson-writing-on-the-wall/)
brought forth more speculations about potential Kree-signs, thating
with mysterious geometric symbols being written on a wall by Agent
Coulson. It also pointed out that Ronan the Accuser, a Kree and a
major character in Captain Mar-Vell's adventures, will be in the
upcoming move “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Incidentally, Drax the
Destroyer is a lead character in that movie as well, and Drax, a
human who had been attacked by Thanos and resurrected as a vengeful,
indestructible warrior, has been present in Captain Mar-Vell's
adventures n almost as many stories as Thanos.

“I wholeheartedly apologize to those
that find this completely annoying…

what happened was was that I had a pretty fantastic
entrance for Capt. Marvel but took it out because I
kind of like the
hopelessness of the issue. I like that many of you have
no idea how the guardians are going to get out of all of this.

“I promise you she is in next issue and many issues to
come and narrates the Guardian’s annual.

“there is a fine century
long
tradition of things being on the cover that aren’t
in the book and I gladly hold that tradition :-)

On June 2, International Business times
posted an article by Eric Brown that “It's Time For Marvel To
Squash Ant-Man: Without Edgar Wright, It Won't Work”
(http://www.ibtimes.com/its-time-marvel-squash-ant-man-without-edgar-wright-it-wont-work-1593473).
In the article, the writer suggests several characters that might be
better for a big screen treatment these days than Marvel Comics'
shrinking scientist. He suggests that it's time for a female superhero
to have her own movie, and if not Black Widow, who has played
significant roles, in three Marvel movies already, then Carol
Danvers' Captain Marvel would be the perfect choice.

That article also links to an article
from March 15 on ComingSoon.net
(http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=116057)
in which Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is quoted as saying
"We’ve talked a lot about [Captain Marvel]. I think
that would be very cool." The
comments section of that article then proceeds with a lengthy
argument with many participants about whether they should use the
name “Ms. Marvel” or “Captain Marvel" for the movie about Carol
Danvers and her superhero alter-ego.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Hi, everyone. I've been away for a while, fighting at international medieval combat tournaments, producing videos, working in the insurance industry, having a girlfriend, that sort of thing, but I am revving back up the Captain Marvel Culture project. With that in mind, I wanted to share some very recent Captain Marvel news.

As you should know by now, Marvel Comics has reprinted scads of Marvelman comics and is currently reprinting the Alan Moore series about the character under the name "Miracleman," it's title in the US.

Noh-Varr became The Protector and descended into obscurity, a dead Mar-Vell showed up in a miniseries, and Carol Danvers took on the mantle of Captain Marvel in a new series written by Kelly Sue DeConnick (who I interviewed at NY Comic Con. I'll post that interview in a later blog post).

Meanwhile, over at DC, the newest re-imagining of "Shazam" (now the name of the character carrying the franchise of the original Captain Marvel) has become a regular back-up character in Justice League comics. He had his own back-up series that established the new character's origin, which includes a half-dozen foster kids (including Billy Batson and Mary) who can all transform into variants of Shazam heroes.

About Me

Multi-talented entertainer, writer, filmmaker, artist, historian, grappler, swordfighter. I am writing a book about the many Captain Marvels, and compete in swordfighting and submission grappling. I make movies, act, sing, and do stage combat, and critique on all media.